Sticky Date Pudding

The wind outside is howling like it is still the depths of winter. It has rained all long weekend so I’m saying goodbye to this lousy Spring and returning to winter and its warm comforting soups and hearty desserts. That’s right – daylight saving just started and I’m making dreamy puddings.

And who wouldn’t, right?

This sticky date pudding is light and spicy and sweet and covered with butterscotch sauce, it is almost impossible to resist (translation: F and I just ate 2 pieces standing in the kitchen, and F just jumped in saying ‘you made sticky date pudding for me!, lili, tell them that!’ too.much.sugar).

This is the kind of dessert to make when friends unexpectedly drop by, simple and extravagant, cheap and tasty, with no fancy ingredients. Hell, its a cake even my oven won’t ruin. The kind of pudding to share, scraping the last morsels from the communal dish, spoons aloft, comforting.

Sticky Date Pudding
Adapted from Stephanie Alexander’s ‘The Cook’s Companion’

1cup shopped dates
1t bicarb soda
300ml boiling water
60g unsalted butter
3/4 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/2t vanilla
1t ground cinnamon
1/2t powdered ginger
1/2t ground nutmeg

for sauce
200g brown sugar
120ml cream
125g unsalted butter

Preaheat over to 180.
Mix dates and bicarb and pour water over, let sit.
Cream butter and sugar then mix in spices. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in flour and date mixture. Pour into square/rectangular loaf pan, lined with baking paper.
Bake for 30 – 40 mins, or until set, brown and risen.

for sauce:
In a small pan bring all ingredients to the boil (I actually didn’t have any brown sugar left, so I cooked my caster sugar and butter until caramelised, then added the cream – it turned out magnificently).

When pudding is done, pour a little sauce over the top and return to oven for a few minutes to soak in. When removed and cooled a little, cut into squares and pour some more sauce over the top.
Reserve remaining sauce for serving.

Eat warm or cold with extra sauce or cream or icecream.